Films by Filmmaker

Lisa Merton

Lisa Merton has been collaborating on film and video productions with director/producer Alan Dater since 1988. Dater has been shooting and directing documentaries since 1968. Residents of Marlboro, Vermont, they share an interest in making films about the arts, education and social issues. Some of the films they have made together include: Home to Tibet, a documentary about a Tibetan refugee's return to his homeland; Bridge of Fire, a documentary about two potters, one a Japanese and the other a fellow Vermonter, which was shown at the Museum of Modern Art and won the award for The Best Media Work at The Montreal Festival of Films on Art and a Cine Golden Eagle; Wolf Kahn: Landscape Painter, which won a Cine Golden Eagle; and The World in Claire's Classroom, a documentary on a veteran Vermont public school teachers extraordinary vision of teaching children how to appreciate diversity, and how to respect themselves and others. Their most recent documentary, Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, became part of the New Day Collection in 2008. Taking Root won the Audience Award at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto and the Amnesty International Human Rights Award at the Durban, South Africa, Film Festival as well as several other awards. Lisa won the first "Nashville Women in Film & Television Award for Best Feature Length Film Directed or Co-Directed by a Woman" at the Nashville Film Festival in April 2008. The film's website is www.takingrootfilm.com. Their production company website is www.marlboroproductions.com.